


Appropriately Sized Flower Pots

by shutterbug



Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: Canon Related, Canonical Character Death, Death, Funeral, Gen, Post-Season/Series 02, memorial service
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2014-06-18
Packaged: 2018-02-05 05:18:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1806670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutterbug/pseuds/shutterbug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Red stood in the corner of the room, watching the ladies pay their respects. One by one, they paused in front of Rosa’s printed mug-shot—the only photo the prison had available for display.  Gazes shifted from the potted miniature roses on the table to the yellowing bruises and suture scars on Red’s face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Appropriately Sized Flower Pots

The dirt stayed under her fingernails. Dark strips separating the body of her nails from the free edge. 

“You’ve got some schmutz under your nails, there, Red.” 

Red waived Morello away, who shrugged and turned to deposit her breakfast tray for cleaning. In other circumstances, Red would have headed for the bathroom, scrubbed out the dirt, scraped under each nail, but today she could wait. She had work to do. 

~~~

Hours—minutes—after Rosa had made her spontaneous escape, the prison had locked down. No mail. No phone calls. No talking. No touching. 

But less than a week later, all at once, Litchfield had exploded with news. Vee’s body had been found by local police on the side of the road. Morello had faced disciplinary proceedings. A marked prison van had been recovered in the parking lot of a train station. 

In a moment of glory that had come as a surprise only to the administration, Morello had crafted a Pulitzer-worthy narrative chronicling how Vee suddenly appeared beside the van, pounding on the window. How Vee wrenched the door open and threw a shocked Morello from the driver’s seat. Only Morello herself could recall the frantic fear that compelled her to pull herself up and walk stiffly toward the building, toward the CO, ready to report. But Vee had already started speeding away. 

Morello had gushed her unending relief that she hadn’t been in the van, hadn’t been trapped like poor Rosa. Poor cancer-ridden Miss Rosa, who—there had been no doubt in Morello’s mind as she'd told the story—had probably managed to eject Vee from the van into oncoming traffic in a heroic act of self-defense. 

Morello had insisted that she had no idea how the van ended up at a train station, but was certain that Rosa had only fled in fear of her life. _She_ would have, that was for sure. 

And, miracle of miracles, the administration had bought it. Or, faced with the opportunity to take responsibility for only one break-out instead of _two_ , that’s what they reported. 

~~~

Nobody ever mentioned the pipe. Red waited until the dust settled to resume its use. She started quietly, arranging for a shipment of herbs and flowers, new cell inserts, a few ceramic pots. 

“I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing,” Nicky said, reaching for the watering can. 

Red tossed a handful of cilantro into a box marked KITCHEN. “You’re a big girl, Nicky,” she said. “You know how to water dirt.” 

Demarco got word two weeks later. Rosa went down on a public street, like a cowboy in a high-noon showdown. The evening news called it “suicide by cop.” 

Red knew better. They all knew better. 

~~~

Red stood in the corner of the room, watching the ladies pay their respects. One by one, they paused in front of Rosa’s printed mug-shot—the only photo the prison had available for display. Gazes shifted from the potted miniature roses on the table to the yellow-black bruises and suture scars on Red’s face. 

“The roses were a nice touch,” Sister Ingalls said as she passed. 

“You plan on keeping all those? ‘Cause my bunk could use some color.” 

“You weren’t even close to her,” Piper whispered. “Were you?” 

“She put that bitch in the ground.” Red set her jaw and closed her eyes for a few seconds, indulging in the image of Vee’s corpse, open-eyed and still on the cold, hard earth. “I owed her _some_ thing.” 

~~~ 

After lunch, Red arrived at Sophia’s salon. “How about some roses for a nice manicure, hmm?” she said, leaning on the door jamb, payment in hand.

“You know I love roses, but nails aren’t my speciality.” 

“I also brought concealer.” 

Sophia grinned, tossing her magazine onto the counter. “Well, have a seat, Miss Red.”


End file.
